On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been issued over two years earlier, and the South had surrendered in April 1865, ending the Civil War. So why did it take so long for ... Show More
Yesterday
Best of 2025: Michael Lewis on Who Is Government?
In this Best of 2025-episode, Best-selling author Michael Lewis discusses his new book, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service. As Americans’ distrust in the government continues to grow, Lewis’ book examines how the government works, who works for it, and why the ... Show More
58m 14s
Jan 22
The Lost Founder: James Wilson
This week, we explore the life of an influential and yet, often overlooked founder, James Wilson. Whose ideas and influence continue to shape current debates about popular sovereignty, constitutional structure, and democratic self-government. Legal scholar William Ewald of the Un ... Show More
57m 12s
Aug 2025
590. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Death at the Theatre (Part 1)
After passing the 13th amendment, in the closing weeks of the brutal American Civil War, what did president Abraham Lincoln - recently re-elected - do next to inflame his detractors? Crippled with guilt for the death and destruction of the war, was he indeed a unionist tyrant? Wh ... Show More
1h 2m
Sep 2025
Free as a Verb: Art, Speech, and Conflict in Antebellum America
What did “free speech” mean before the Civil War...and what did it cost? Today, I'm exploring how Americans have debated the meaning of liberty through words, images, and even violence beginning with Samuel Jennings’s 1792 painting 'Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences' in 17 ... Show More
44m 27s
Feb 2025
Did Lincoln Save Global Democracy or Undermine It Using Wartime Powers?
Did Abraham Lincoln preserve democracy during the Civil War, or did he endanger it in the process? To explore this paradox, we’re joined by renowned historian and Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo, author of Our Ancient Faith. Guelzo takes us deep into the high-stakes decisions of Lin ... Show More
57m 26s
Jan 2025
The First 12 Days of the Civil War
<p>In April 1861, Union forces having lost the first battle of the Civil War, attention turned to the Confederacy's likely next target - Washington DC.</p><br><p>Entirely unprepared, the American capital was to be undefended for the next 12 days. To explore the fears, preparation ... Show More
35 m
Oct 2023
The Real Free State of Jones (1863)
<p>It’s October 12th. This day in 1863, fighting is breaking out in Jones County, Mississippi, as a group of southern farmers starts to rebel against the Confederacy.</p><p>Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this group felt compelled to rebel, what their fight was really about — ... Show More
13m 48s
Nov 2024
41 | Lord Give Me a Sign | It’s the Senate, and We in It
The Civil War’s over, countless Black people are making their way in a new and dangerous world, and their fight for equality and representation ain’t over. Two Black men – preacher Hiram Revels and the formerly enslaved Blanche Bruce – rise up during U.S. Reconstruction with diff ... Show More
38m 53s
Aug 2024
Thomas Mundy Peterson: The Story of the 1st Black Voter in the United States
On this episode of Our American Stories, this is the story of what happened shortly after the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Here to tell a ... Show More
9m 29s
Aug 2025
591. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Manhunt for the Killer (Part 2)
How was President Abraham Lincoln murdered on Good Friday 1865, at Ford’s Theatre, just five days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender? Who was John Wilkes Booth, the racist actor with southern sympathies, who assassinated him? How did he escape before the shocked eyes of the packed t ... Show More
1h 7m